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[Yuripaw]

I recently finally finished, and platinumed Final Fantasy XIII-2. I was discouraged by a lot of people, here on gaf, and just friends I know saying that the game wasn't worth finishing, but I enjoyed it and had fun playing it. I was sorta getting a little burned out going after those last few trophys, but I figured since I was close enough, that I should go all the way. It was my first time platinum for a game, so that's cool.

A lot of people say the story is terrible in 13-2, and I'd agree it's not one I'd consider a favorite of mine, but I liked the characters, and tho it was needlessly complex, I was able to follow it in it's own weird way that it was trying to make sense.

After that ending for 13-2, it's hard to deny that I wanna play LR now, and I've already picked up my copy of Lightning Returns. Not sure I should jump right into it just yet, and maybe give myself a breather between games. I did enjoy the story for 13-2 though, will I be satisfied with LR do you guys think?

 

[Perfo]

After that ending for 13-2, it's hard to deny that I wanna play LR now, and I've already picked up my copy of Lightning Returns. Not sure I should jump right into it just yet, and maybe give myself a breather between games. I did enjoy the story for 13-2 though, will I be satisfied with LR do you guys think?

I don't like XIII-2, I think you'll enjoy LR: FFXIII way more. Gameplay is vastly superior, story and characters also better written and easy to follow. LR: FFXIII is fantastic, no quite as much as the original XIII for me, but closer to what I expect from a proper FF. To a stretch I think LR is the best spinoff the series got together with FFT. It's huge, deep, well thought, original and brilliant too at times. It's definitely an 8 out of 10 game.

 

[Balphon]

Ah, I see. I will probably try to do Aeronite prior to Day 13.

One more question (for now! ), since you can only do Hard mode after you beat the game once, does that mean all the enemies (not just bosses) have been rebalanced for you having a lot more strength/magic/HP? Or will you go around one-shotting enemies?

Enemy stats are increased by something like 3x-4x in Hard, yeah.

 

[HawthorneKitty]

Ah, I see. I will probably try to do Aeronite prior to Day 13.

One more question (for now! ), since you can only do Hard mode after you beat the game once, does that mean all the enemies (not just bosses) have been rebalanced for you having a lot more strength/magic/HP? Or will you go around one-shotting enemies?

I'm not too far into hard mode, but normal enemies should not really be an issue; maybe the larger ones though. Definitely not one-shotting though.

 

[SoraanTribal]

Enemy stats are increased by something like 3x-4x in Hard, yeah.

I'm not too far into hard mode, but normal enemies should not really be an issue; maybe the larger ones though. Definitely not one-shotting though.

Ah okay, I see. I mean, I don't plan on replaying the game right away after I finish, but I do want Hard mode to provide a nice challenge when I start it again.

---

I completed

Spoiler

Fang's

chapter today - the Dead Dunes dungeon wasn't too bad. To be fair, I was using a map as I went, so if I went in without that, I probably would have been much more annoyed. As far as the doors, I didn't run into too many issues. If you let the timer run and don't use chronostasis, most of the time, you won't have to wait more than like 30s or maybe even not at all if you are lucky. The boss of that place was fairly easy, 5 star no prob. It was fun

Spoiler

hanging out with Fang again. Glad she joined you for that entire section. I wish each main story had a tag-along partner like that (technically the Angel of Valhalla counts, but you know what I mean).

Later today,

Spoiler

Caius will be killed! I wonder if he's truly as hard as people claim. On Normal, I haven't found any of the boss parts particularly challenging/hard. And most of the time, I don't even use overclock on them.

Question about the sword you get after killing the boss I just talked about - is it best to put that sword on my main magic user or no? The Quick Stagger aspect to it - that's better on the magic user right since they are generally the ones to stagger. I have Shard sword (or whatever they are called) for my other two melee fighters atm.

---

Also, how good is the Dark Knight garb? I unlocked it just a few minutes ago - it looks awesome. How much HP do those abilities take away? Seems way too risky unless the damage is really high. I wish you could set a Garb as just aesthetics without using the actual abilities, lol.

 

[MrBS]

My first impressions of this game were terrible. Still going through first time on normal. Now that I've got a few days under my belt and some decent gear/stats things are coming together. My latest day I managed to do two main missions and was in the very last room before a boss fight for the a third at 5:59 when I got summoned. So close!

The battle system took some time to get my head around but thinking about it I think its more a case of suffering at the beginning while waiting for decent gear. Being an RPG with no scaling makes me very happy as coming back to harder enemies with the right strategy and gear and destroying them. Very satisfying.

As for story/characters unless something magical happens this is right up there with the Matrix sequels for canon I will choose to ignore.

 

[HawthorneKitty]

Later today,

Spoiler

Caius will be killed! I wonder if he's truly as hard as people claim. On Normal, I haven't found any of the boss parts particularly challenging/hard. And most of the time, I don't even use overclock on them.

Question about the sword you get after killing the boss I just talked about - is it best to put that sword on my main magic user or no? The Quick Stagger aspect to it - that's better on the magic user right since they are generally the ones to stagger. I have Shard sword (or whatever they are called) for my other two melee fighters atm.

If you only have one, yeah, put it on your magic.

 

[SoraanTribal]

If you only have one, yeah, put it on your magic.

You can get another? Or do you mean on NG+?

 

[Zafir]

Spoiler

Caius

was the first boss I had to use overclock on Normal. Kind of necessary due to his barrage of attacks.

 

[SoraanTribal]

Spoiler

Caius

was the first boss I had to use overclock on Normal. Kind of necessary due to his barrage of attacks.

I'm actually pretty excited to face him. I've heard it's a good challenging battle.

Also,

Spoiler

he is actually one of my favorite FF villains after XIII-2, so I want to see how his story plays out. Also, dat voice.

 

[HawthorneKitty]

You can get another? Or do you mean on NG+?

Yeah, on + playthroughs; I guess you can buy one if you come across a seller in the Outerworld though.

 

[Jisgsaw]

Well, finally finished my first playthrough.

The last stage of the final battle almost got me, I beat it with not Recovery items left and only 1000 HP left...
But well, got in completely blind in the fight, kinda got screwed because of

Spoiler

Jump not working on the final form. The ultima weapon + Artemis Arrow's hacked through the first three forms though :lol

 

[SoraanTribal]

Yeah, on + playthroughs; I guess you can buy one if you come across a seller in the Outerworld though.

Question about that.. Maybe a dumb question, but.. when you sell stuff via Outerworld, does it actually leave your inventory? Or does it create a duplicate for someone else? If it does leave your inventory, is it possible to reload a previous save and get the item back while it's still sent to someone else?

 

[BananasWithGuns]

Also, how good is the Dark Knight garb? I unlocked it just a few minutes ago - it looks awesome. How much HP do those abilities take away? Seems way too risky unless the damage is really high. I wish you could set a Garb as just aesthetics without using the actual abilities, lol.

It doesn't take away a ton but if you start spamming its abilities it will definitely take a good chunk out of you. It does dish out some nice damage if you use Ashura after a stagger though. It's definitely a unique garb because even if you don't spam the abilities on it, you still have to somewhat plan ahead to account for the HP loss. I thought it was a really fun garb to use though just because it's a bit different than the others. Plus it looks badass.

Question about that.. Maybe a dumb question, but.. when you sell stuff via Outerworld, does it actually leave your inventory? Or does it create a duplicate for someone else? If it does leave your inventory, is it possible to reload a previous save and get the item back while it's still sent to someone else?

It doesn't remove it from your inventory so when you make a post it's generally advised to just throw an ether or elixir on there.

 

[Zafir]

Man. Having fought Aeronite and Ereshkigal(Spelling?), it made the final boss look like a walk in the park, especially with the Ultima Weapon...

The ending?

Spoiler

Well... It was awful. Cheesy, and they managed to take the overly dramatic scenes to a new level of overly dramatic. The story sunk to a new low. How the hell did we even manage to get to this stage... Oh well, I can at least take solace in the fact the story is over! hopefully...

 

[Liferebooted]

Ugh, getting destroyed by

Spoiler

Caius, he's the only hard fight so far on normal and he just completely annihilates me.

 

[Cheska]

Ugh, getting destroyed by

Spoiler

Caius, he's the only hard fight so far on normal and he just completely annihilates me.

Have you completed all the other main quests yet? I would honestly save that particular one for last.

 

[Liferebooted]

Have you completed all the other main quests yet? I would honestly save that particular one for last.

Nah was doing them in order. =[

 

[Garland7G]

Ereshkigal is kicking my ass, but its a very fun fight, almost like a dance lol. Gonna make a few more slight changes to my schema and try again.

 

[Teddified]

Just finished, and did a short run to get the last of my trophies.

It was definitely an odd game. I liked it but it had some issues that kept me from being too happy with it.

It'll be nice to see what's next after this Trilogy. Hopefully we get more info on XV here soon.

 

[HawthorneKitty]

Nah was doing them in order. =[

Yeah, I don't get why Dead Dunes is last...

 

[Garland7G]

Yeah, I don't get why Dead Dunes is last...

It could be because DD technically has the hardest bosses? Or maybe its story related? Who knows with this game...but its fun and that's the bottom line

Todays tally thus far:

Ereshkigal: 2
Lightning: 0

 

[Szadek]

Defeated Aeronite on Hard.I got 0 stars,but I don't care.
I'm not sure how you are supposed to get a much better rating than that without limit break.
I did it together with Fang,because why the hell not.

 

[SoraanTribal]

So I beat

Spoiler

Caius

in one go (on Normal). It wasn't as hard as I expected it to be based on what people were saying. Maybe it's because I did him last (well, I still haven't done

Spoiler

Sazh yet

), but I was doing crazy damage to him and killed him fairly fast. That said, he did do a ton of damage quickly, and if the battle was drawn out to be longer, it definitely would have posed some problems. I used Overclock once to get him staggered quickly.

So I'm undecided on my current garb/weapon/shield situation. My garbs are kind of a mess right now because I want to use Sacred Knight - it looks awesome. And I kind of want to have the weapon I just got from the previous boss (

Spoiler

Caius

) on that garb because of how awesome it looks. But... I know it isn't the optimal choice because that garb is more for defense. But what good is having a cool looking sword if I can't see it in cutscenes and such with a nice looking garb?

Also, can someone explain what exactly Defensive Strike does? Is there a hidden buff where each attack you do boosts your defenses or something? The description confused me.

Story questions (Main Quest 3-3 spoilers):

Spoiler

So... Yeul is the source of all the chaos. But when Yeul was created by Lindzei as the first human (this is canon right? it was in one of those novels I think), where did her soul come from? Isn't the soul in humans chaos? So where did the original chaos come from? I know that her reincarnation over and over was what lead to the chaos becoming so massive, but was chaos there before Yeul? Or was she still somehow the source? Technically, Lightning says outright "You are the source of the original chaos." But I don't get how that could be true if chaos is what is given to humans so they have a soul. hmm.

 

[truly101]

I finished it on easy today. 41 hours with most (but not all) quests done and I didn't bother with that other dungeon in the desert.

What can I say, I really liked it. I couldn't play either FFXIII or XIII-2 straight through to completion, but I really got into this one.

I think the worst flaws of the game are really on a technical level. Somehow they took the shit from stories, mythologies and characters from the first two games and made it work for the most part. I actually liked Lightning in this game, she had actual character development in it.

The reality though is LR is like one of those underrated B tier JRPGS from the PS1 or PS2 days, which for a FF is kinda sad. That I think its the superior title of the 3 may be sadder.

 

[Garland7G]

5 Star (Normal) Ereshkigal on my 3rd try today! This fight has been the most fun and challenging fight of the whole game so far. I made a video of it for those interested in watching me lay the smack down

5 Star SmackDown!!

Now to find Aeronite and give a little payback

 

[HawthorneKitty]

So for those who have experienced most of the side quests, which have been your favorite?
Personally and off the top of my head, I like Bhakti's and Luka's.

 

[SoraanTribal]

Another story question from Main Quest 3-3 (spoilers):

Spoiler

One of the Yeuls in the temple said something like "When I gave him eternal life, he turned his back upon it - seeking only an end to all things." I thought it was Etro who gave Caius eternal life? When she said that, for a second I thought that Yeul = Etro, but I don't think that's right (but wasn't Yeul created in the image of Etro? hmm). Was that Yeul just talking about how she (and ones like her) are keeping Caius alive since the ending of XIII-2? But then like a line before that, she says "I bestowed him with the power of chaos." Again, I thought Etro gave him that power when she gave Caius her heart. x_x

So for those who have experienced most of the side quests, which have been your favorite?
Personally and off the top of my head, I like Bhakti's and Luka's.

I did like Bhakti's even though

Spoiler

it was incredibly sad.

Luka's was decent even if it was just coming back to talk to her day after day. I thought her story was interesting if nothing else. I also liked the one with Ranulph in Luxerion (about the journal - more so the second quest with that).

 

[Garland7G]

So for those who have experienced most of the side quests, which have been your favorite?
Personally and off the top of my head, I like Bhakti's and Luka's.

Bhakti's because it didn't end the way I thought it would and it had a

Spoiler

sad little 'twist'

at the end.
Where are you, Moogle? because that shit was hilarious.

 

[Ganon Dragmire]

Another story question from Main Quest 3-3 (spoilers):

Spoiler

One of the Yeuls in the temple said something like "When I gave him eternal life, he turned his back upon it - seeking only an end to all things." I thought it was Etro who gave Caius eternal life? When she said that, for a second I thought that Yeul = Etro, but I don't think that's right (but wasn't Yeul created in the image of Etro? hmm). Was that Yeul just talking about how she (and ones like her) are keeping Caius alive since the ending of XIII-2? But then like a line before that, she says "I bestowed him with the power of chaos." Again, I thought Etro gave him that power when she gave Caius her heart. x_x

Spoiler

Yeul meant after he "died" from the battle with Noel. Many of the Yeul's are keeping him alive now and he just wants to die with the rest of the world instead of being "saved". So despite Yuel's request and Light's fight, the battle was pointless. He even shows you how pointless it is, by trying to kill himself.

 

[SoraanTribal]

Spoiler

Yeul meant after he "died" from the battle with Noel. Many of the Yeul's are keeping him alive now and he just wants to die with the rest of the world instead of being "saved". So despite Yuel's request and Light's fight, the battle was pointless. He even shows you how pointless it is, by trying to kill himself.

Ah okay, that's

Spoiler

what I thought she might have meant. The way she phrased it made me wonder if it was something else, though. How about my first question a few posts above? Do you know? :x

Also battle question:

So, should I be using the -aga spells for staggering or the -ra spells? The -aga spells have more staggering power, but they take longer to cast and take more ATB. The -ra spells can be chained really quickly together and cost less.

 

[Ganon Dragmire]

Ah okay, that's

Spoiler

what I thought she might have meant. The way she phrased it made me wonder if it was something else, though. How about my first question a few posts above? Do you know? :x

Also battle question:

So, should I be using the -aga spells for staggering or the -ra spells? The -aga spells have more staggering power, but they take longer to cast and take more ATB. The -ra spells can be chained really quickly together and cost less.

Yuel isn't

Spoiler

the source of all the chaos, it's just this unseen chaos that kept getting worse with each rebirth.

 

[SoraanTribal]

Yuel isn't

Spoiler

the source of all the chaos, it's just this unseen chaos that kept getting worse with each rebirth.

Spoiler

So the "unseen Chaos" is different from regular "Chaos"? Hmm. So when Lightning says "You're the source of the original Chaos. The Chaos that burst from the unseen realm.", she's just talking about source of the unseen Chaos? <.>

 

[Tathanen]

I made like zero progress vs Ereshkigal whatsoever until I switched my setup to something totally lame, then I five-star dominated him, I was flabbergasted. Aeroa/ga on all three schemas, spammed over and over and over again, occasionally while overclocking. Once staggered, had slow on one schema, poison on the other two. Spammed those until poison and slow stuck, then back to aero. Repeat, repeat. Took the meteor hits, healed/revived. Brutalized him!

Now Aeronite ha ha yeah that didn't go so well. Immune to poison and slow. Decided to skip that fucker.

Final day here I come!

 

[Garland7G]

Ah okay, that's

Spoiler

what I thought she might have meant. The way she phrased it made me wonder if it was something else, though. How about my first question a few posts above? Do you know? :x

Also battle question:

So, should I be using the -aga spells for staggering or the -ra spells? The -aga spells have more staggering power, but they take longer to cast and take more ATB. The -ra spells can be chained really quickly together and cost less.

ra

 

[SoraanTribal]

ra

That's what I thought, thanks! Do the -aga spells have any use whatsoever if -ra spells are better for staggering?

 

[Garland7G]

I made like zero progress vs Ereshkigal whatsoever until I switched my setup to something totally lame, then I five-star dominated him, I was flabbergasted. Aeroa/ga on all three schemas, spammed over and over and over again, occasionally while overclocking. Once staggered, had slow on one schema, poison on the other two. Spammed those until poison and slow stuck, then back to aero. Repeat, repeat. Took the meteor hits, healed/revived. Brutalized him!

Now Aeronite ha ha yeah that didn't go so well. Immune to poison and slow. Decided to skip that fucker.

Final day here I come!

I just found Aeronite, so its time for round 2 with him. About to put down another smackdown!

Edit: -aga spells are just a more powerful AoE spell so its useful when fighting multiple enemies, preferable 3 or more.

 

[Ganon Dragmire]

Spoiler

So the "unseen Chaos" is different from regular "Chaos"? Hmm. So when Lightning says "You're the source of the original Chaos. The Chaos that burst from the unseen realm.", she's just talking about source of the unseen Chaos? <.>

Spoiler

Pretty much the source of chaos that came in and fucked things up. There was chaos being kept at bay before the first Yuel was made so...
Yuel's creation plus Etro's stupidity messed her soul up and linked her to chaos, and not every Yuel is selfless.

 

[SoraanTribal]

I just found Aeronite, so its time for round 2 with him. About to put down another smackdown!

Edit: -aga spells are just a more powerful AoE spell so its useful when fighting multiple enemies, preferable 3 or more.

Ah okay, makes sense.

Good luck on Aeronite!

Spoiler

Pretty much the source of chaos that came in and fucked things up. There was chaos being kept at bay before the first Yuel was made so...
Yuel's creation plus Etro's stupidity messed her soul up and linked her to chaos, and not every Yuel is selfless.

Gotcha.

Spoiler

I wonder where the original Chaos came from then. Even Bhuni didn't know what the Chaos was iirc from the mythology videos a long time ago (assuming that still applies).

 

[Ganon Dragmire]

Ah okay, makes sense.

Good luck on Aeronite!



Gotcha.

Spoiler

I wonder where the original Chaos came from then. Even Bhuni didn't know what the Chaos was iirc from the mythology videos a long time ago (assuming that still applies).

Spoiler

Bhuni was so afraid of death that when he started his "plan", he didn't know what it would do to the world and himself until it was too late.

 

[sonto340]

The last boss is really kicking my ass.
I'm having trouble building the stagger at all.
Am I just terrible at the battle system somehow?
I'm using Fira and Aeroa on Triangle and Element and Thunder on square with two Schema. The last schema has Blizzard on Square and Beat Down on Triangle. Is this a good setup? Its what I've ended up with after trying to beat it multiple times, but I feel like I'm just pushing my face against a brick wall. /:

 

[Ganon Dragmire]

Can you take pics of the

Spoiler

final parts on NG+ mode? or is it always like this?

 

[Glittering Crux]

I finished the main quests in Luxerion today and am almost done with all the side quests there. I also spent a lot of time in the Wildlands. I think it's 9pm-ish in my game so I don't think I have enough time to complete the quest that will let the chocobo glide since I still need to find the quest giver too. I'm surprised I overlooked her given how many times I went to that village.

I haven't been to the Dead Dunes or Yusnaan yet. I think my next in-game I'll get the glide ability if I'm not able to get it before and then go to Yusnaan.

The battle system is a lot of fun. I'm just paranoid I won't have what I need to overcome certain boss fights. So far I haven't really struggled with any bosses or encounters but I'm not able to beat Chocobo Eaters or Behemoths. I've own fights against Behemoths but I just run away/reset from them because I lack the DPS.

 

[Garland7G]

Areonite is kicking my ass. I made a gif that sums it up

 

[HawthorneKitty]

^^^^^^^^^

I lol'd.

 

[timshundo]

Nice shot I took!

That hand is Atlas from FFXIII-2 right? How'd he end up in the dunes?

 

[jersoc]

5 Star (Normal) Ereshkigal on my 3rd try today! This fight has been the most fun and challenging fight of the whole game so far. I made a video of it for those interested in watching me lay the smack down

5 Star SmackDown!!

Now to find Aeronite and give a little payback

what was your setup? that dude is kicking my ass.

 

[Garland7G]

what was your setup? that dude is kicking my ass.

Splendid admiral
L'atuomne
Equilibrium+

Keep him slowed and poisoned if you can and alternate -ra spells to stagger.

 

[Szadek]

Splendid admiral
L'atuomne
Equilibrium+

Keep him slowed and poisoned if you can and alternate -ra spells to stagger.

The cheap way is with quiet guardian + preta hood + runic ring for 100% resist against magic damage.
Whenever you see a spell coming you just tank it with quiet guardian.

 

[Mr. RHC]

Hey guys can you help me identify a track in the credits theme?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLU6OxND2Qw

Starting 4:59, maybe you recognize the previous one too?